The Lady in the Bottle
by But I'm No Mercury
Summary: Quinn is overjoyed when Puck comes to visit her, in her lonely New Haven apartment. He comes bearing a gift—a golden lamp, holding a 3,000 year old genie, Rachel. Faberry week: Age Difference.


**A/N: Ok, so this is my interpretation of 'age difference'. I had been writing this earlier in the year and figured, hey, why not take advantage of Faberry week and finish it? Plus my beta is very convincing. **

**The genie premise came from my love of 'I Dream of Jeannie' and Barbra Eden in that costume. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or I Dream of Jeannie. Damn. **

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Puck stopped by her dorm on one of those odd days where the sun was shining, despite the rain pouring down. It was bound to lead to something bad. Yet, she had made a commitment to the man—yes, he was a man now, wasn't he—who was visiting after a rather lengthy time at a military base in Virginia.

She opened the door with a wide smile, barely holding back long enough to let him hold up a wrapped gift, before she sprung on him. She held on tight to the oddly soft uniform he donned and hummed out how happy she was to see him.

"Its only been a few months, Q." He deadpans, waltzing the two of them inside, Quinn's arms still tight around him. She only let go to kiss his cheek chastely.

Now, even though the trip to McKinley all those months ago to relive her time in high school—where she had been a Cheerio who had gotten pregnant from Puck—made her see him in a new light...they weren't together. It had been nice to have the tiny reunion with some old friends, minus her deceased ex boyfriend, turned good friend Finn that is. It had been nicer to have Puck kiss her and hold her in a way she'd crave someone would too.

But Puck had a country to attend to, and didn't wanna rush things between them.

"It feels like forever ago," Quinn sighed, letting her eyes wander to the box he held lightly in his hands. It was nicely wrapped with a bow on top—he had definitely visited his mother beforehand. Quinn prodded at it with a raised brow, "You bring me back a war souvenir, Puckerman?"

"Hell yeah, got a communist skull right here," He placed the box in her hands proudly. Quinn simply rolled her eyes and wondered why they were suddenly back to the Cold War. She shook it and heard the clanking of metal.

Did Noah Puckerman get her some bling?

"Careful, the lady said it was an antique..." He trailed as Quinn undid the bow and tore the paper away. The box itself was stark white with a lid on top.

She removed the lid slowly, almost as if she expected something to pop out. This _was_ still Noah Puckerman. "I swear, if anything jumps out of here..." Under the lid was nothing but a gold lamp. It looked more like a teapot in shape, and the lid of it housed a garnish—

A large golden star.

Speaking of which, the whole thing was embroidered with stars surrounding a crescent moon.

Quinn traced the lamp with her eyes, afraid to touch it. It truly was a beautiful thing and it gave her the irrarional fear that her hands would damage it.

"I take it, I did good?"

Quinn looked up at Puck, having forgotten that he was even there. She had been—and still was to be honest—immersed in the lamp in a magnetic pull. Quinn could only nod.

"Yeah...you did really good."

/

Quinn never really felt thankful for her father and his money, until she realized the joys of living alone.

One of which being that she could house Puckerman for the day he was in town.

The second being the privacy it allowed her.

After Puck had left to go visit their friends Santana and Brittany in the city—New York to be exact—Quinn felt lonely. She wished that she and Puck could make things official, that she wouldn't have to wait.

Taking things slow only made time go by way too fast. Which led to the one con—being alone.

She'd already eaten her weight in the left over Chinese take out. Now she had nothing to do but cling to the lamp given to her days ago. She watched it, wondering when and why it was created—maybe its creator was just as lonely as she was. How else would they have the time to create such art?

Quinn let herself finally trace the stars. She traced them up to the moon. She let her fingers rub all the way to the tip of the spout, feeling the pull from the other day come back in full force. It made her tremble, her hands shaking.

No...the _lamp_ was shaking. The lamp was violently thrashing in her hands.

"What the hell?" Quinn dropped the golden lamp to the wood floor, cursing when she heard a crack. It had dust flying everywhere. Very thick dust.

"Well, he wasn't lying when he said it was old," She coughed out, waiting for the smoke to disappear.

And then it did, all at once.

There was no smoke, but there was a **girl**.

Just where in the hell did Puck find this, again?

Quinn eyed the girl cautiously, watching as the girl stretched and yawned as if being awakened after a long nap. Quinn could certainly use a long nap.

The girl blinked her eyes a few times, letting her big brown doe eyes land on her, suddenly beaming.

"Master!"

What?

"Master, you have awoken me!" She sprang into Quinn's arms and kissed her within an inch of her life. It was certainly different from when Puck had kissed her months ago. This kiss was passionate, and it felt like she'd been waiting even longer to have it.

Just what in the hell was happening?

The girl pulled away, yet her limbs were still wrapped around Quinn in a vice. "Who the fuck are you?" Quinn questioned, body trembling from either the weight of the girl or astonishment. The girl was very light so it was likely the latter.

The girl finally let go, with a smile that was nothing but teeth, that reflected in her eyes. "I'm Rachel, and I'm here to serve you, Master."

Quinn sat down on the couch, chest heaving as she tried to process what was happening. She looked at _Rachel_, who didn't seem at all concerned about the fact that she came from smoke.

"R-Rachel..." Quinn squeaked and then cleared her throat, watching as the girl immediately straightened.

"Yes, Master, how may I service you?" She asked, peppy as she's been since she...kissed her.

Quinn winced, "Please don't call me that, my name is Quinn." She swallowed with her bone dry throat. "God, I need some water." And possibly a cab ride to the hospital.

"Of course, Master Quinn!" Rachel stood tall—well as tall as someone of her size could—crossed her arms, blinked, and a glass of water appeared in her hands. Quinn's jaw lay unhinged as her shaky hands fought to grasp the cup of water held out for her. Rachel's brows furrowed in her first sign of concern, "Perhaps a straw would help?" She blinked again and boom—swirly straw.

"H-How the hell did you—?" Quinn stammered, voice cracking. She closed her eyes and breathed. Ok, so this girl was apparently a magician of some sort—genies aren't real, right? Although that would explain the 'master' thing.

She can handle this. She was a Cheerio for Christ sake.

"Are you ok Master Quinn? I can get you something else if water doesn't suffice." Rachel looked down at her, attentively searching her face.

Quinn stared at her for awhile, in awe at how devoted the girl was. "Can you tell me what in the hell is going on?" She finally asked, now that she'd grasped the situation.

Rachel hummed for a moment, searching the floor, before she 'oooed' at the lamp on the ground. "You rubbed my lamp and you freed me," She picked up the golden object by the handle. "So, now I'm forever indebted to you. You're my new Master, Quinn."

Rachel seemed quite pleased with her explanation, smiling at her with those impossibly white teeth.

"This is a lot to take in, you have to realize that." Quinn spoke as she finally took in what the girl was wearing. She was dressed like some girl you'd find in a persian brothel; golden flowing pants matching bra and a scarf wrapped around the perimeter of her head, bangs poking out the front and a pony tail in the back.

Quinn couldn't help but notice the gold star on the black sash around her waist.

Rachel cocked her head, "I'm a genie, it runs in my family. There's nothing odd about that."

Quinn huffed out a laugh, "Don't tell me, I only have three wishes?" She figured movie logic would get her somewhere.

"You can have as many wishes as you want, until its time for me to find a new Master," Rachel spoke sagely, only to pout. "Please don't give me up or get hurt. I don't wanna have to wait for a new Master."

Quinn became intrigued, "How long were you in that bottle?"

Rachel blinked, one hand on her hip and the other on her chin. "Huh...you know, I don't think I know. I lost count somewhere around 400 B.C. or so..." Quinn's eyes widened.

How was Rachel able to stand after being trapped for so long?

Quinn whistled her surprise, "Thats...centuries ago, like..."

"Over 3,000 years ago, I believe," Rachel proudly stated, only to second guess herself. "Well, I guess. I mean, I've never been very good at math."

Quinn bit her lip, wondering if Rachel was old enough to have been around for the invention of math. Quinn's thought process was interrupted by the vibration of her phone.

She jumped at the initial vibration, much to the amusement of Rachel. Quinn growled under her breath and pulled the phone from her pocket.

"Hello?" Quinn answered, adjusting back into the real world after her crazy hour with Rachel the...the genie. Said genie was now next to her on the couch, leaning against her and eyeing her cellphone with wonder.

"Hey Quinn, did Puck get you a..." Brittany Pierce's voice fizzled out, and she could hear Santana Lopez muttering angrily. Quinn furrowed her brows, until Brittany's voice returned "A...lame ass gift, too?"

Quinn turned her head only slightly, once again coming face to face with Rachel. Rachel looked back at her with a smile, kissing the tip of her nose. Quinn squeaked her surprise, looking indignantly at the way the brunette giggled at her.

"Q?" Brittany's voice once again pulled Quinn back into reality. "Are you tickling yourself, cause I've tried that and it—"

Rachel had started nuzzling close to her, 'ooing' at Brittany's voice. "Puck's gift was lovely, B, I gotta go, bye!" Quinn clicked her phone off, only catching the beginning of Santana's rant of _'I fucking KNEW it!'_

She clutched her phone in her hand and glared at the genie. "Has anyone ever talked to you about personal space?"

Rachel pursed her lips, "Not really...usually my masters like how attentive I am. Am I not pleasing you, Quinn?"

Quinn fought hard to keep away the smart retorts and the blush on her cheeks. How can she ask something like that with such innocence, after planting one on her within two seconds of meeting?

Rachel looked at her expectingly, seeming to shrink under Quinn's silence. "Rachel...uh—sweetie?" Quinn scrunched her face up, at her words. She digresses, "Its been a long night, so why don't we just sleep this off, ok?"

Rachel whined, but nodded her consent, "Even though I'm not very tired for obvious reasons," Quinn almost conked herself on the head for forgetting that one. "I suppose I can't keep you up all night either..." Rachel shrugged.

Quinn nodded to herself, wondering where the brunette would sleep. She could put her on the couch...

"Great, so..." Quinn trailed once she noticed the genie had suddenly vanished. "Oh God, I truly am going crazy being here alone." She shook her head, placing it in her hands.

"Master Quinn, there's no need to worry!"

Quinn looked up, eyes wide, and searching furiously, "Rachel?"

"Down here!" Quinn glanced down at the now microscopic girl who stood next to the gold lamp on the coffee table. She waved up at Quinn with a bright smile, "I can sleep inside my lamp!" Rachel called out.

Quinn stared down at her, offering a meek wave in return. She didn't know why or how, but the genie leaving her sight for only a second had frightened her.

"Quinn?" Said blonde left her thoughts to pay attention to the tiny girl.

"Yeah?"

Rachel looked almost shy as she asked, "Promise not to let me stay in there for another 3,000 years?"

Quinn didn't know if she could keep that promise. "Sure, Rachel." She finally said to placate the girl. It was amazing how erratically her moods would change.

"Good night Master Quinn."

Quinn paused on the way to her room. Without even looking back she muttered a brief "Good night."

And as she lay in bed that night, Quinn wondered just what in the hell she was gonna do in the morning. Assuming she wasn't going crazy. And assuming Rachel would still be there. Quinn didn't know why, but she really hoped Rachel would still be there in the morning.

_Crash_

"Um...Master Quinn?"

Maybe it wasn't too late to return the lamp to Puckerman.

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**A/N: Feel free to tell me how much I may or may not suck. I can take it. **


End file.
